No I’m not talking about dancing or sex, although I can dance a fabulous east or west coast swing. I’m talking about moving targets.

When I complete in IDPA most matches have a few of these and that is the only time I get the chance to attempt to shoot them. So I took Frank up on the offer to come shoot at The Range over the July 4th holiday. There was one stage at the Carolina Cup that had two swingers and no electronics. I was hoping they were still in place and I was in luck. I also wanted to spend some time with the XDs 9mm  I bought just before the Cup.

In the photo above and below, look for the “L” shaped metal boot .Step one is to hit the boot. That sets the target swinging.

I remember during the competition shooting through the straw bails to hit the target as it was swinging and seeing straw go flying. This time I wanted to be able to set it up, try shooting, see the results and try it again to see if I could figure out how to hit these.

I tried this several times and never did figure out how to go about hitting the moving target. I got some lead on the targets but I have to admit it was a stroke of fortune, not skill.

I also realized that once the target stopped swinging, I could continue with the current magazine by switching to head shots. I seemed to do worse with the double swinger than I did with the single swinger, but possibly that was because i had twice as many opportunities to miss.

It was very muddy after all the rain we have had and I managed to show up at a cookout later that afternoon with red mud on my jeans but I was really happy to have to opportunity to give this a try. Also, the more I shoot the XDs the more I like it.

One other note: Frank says he knows the website is down for the Range and they are working on getting it back up. You can find contact info here if you want to check the schedule while the site is down.

In the previous post I shared my experience as a volunteer.  But one post is just not enough.

I wanted to comment on the stages for the first and second match of the Triple Crown. I’m guessing I’d want to comment on the 3rd match too if I’d been there the 2nd day. I was dumbfounded at the creativity involved and wondered if this was typical of IDPA matches. Evidently not… One of the shooters shot the match and in his write up about the match he said:

“Nearly every major match has 1 stage, feature, target,shooting position or something that is the signature of the match and shooters discuss whenever that match comes up. This match was a little different in that almost every stage would have been that signature at another match.”

“Toni Dandreamatteo and Frank Glover created a 2 day event that, without hyperbole, may never be done again, because this match was mentally and physically draining for every shooter, volunteer and the staff that put it on.” Posted by: Ron Larimer

Having never attended an outside match of any kind, I’ll take his word for it. The day stage that really intrigued me was the one that used the sissors lift. I love heights and had never thought about shooting down. I had the opportunity to go up on the lift once the shooting had stopped and see the angle into and behind the parked car below.

 I also helped Toni clean up the lift before the rental company arrived to pick it up. It was 2 inches deep in brass at one spot. Toni extended the platform to get all the brass that had worked it’s way under the middle and was quick with the broom. Can you imagine the thoughts of the next rental customer if it had been just passed along? And I wonder how many shooters realize that the match director has many jobs, including one like this.

I helped set up several stages for the night match. I’d stand and hold targets while Toni directed, “back”, “left”, “not that far left”, etc. Each target was held in place by a metal spike to ensure that each squad through the stage shot the targets in the exact same placement. Targets were arranged to create challenging configurations when navigating a stage. He explained that advanced shooters would opt for the tougher shots and newer shooters could spend more time to move into a position to make the shot more clear. He reviewed options for holding a flashlight with me. Most important, he made me feel welcome and encouraged me to continue to grow my skills. But I digress…

Then there was the strip club. I think this was a “family” oriented strip club as the dress on that dancer was fairly modest.

However, the actions of the patrons in the private booths was a bit more risque. The “staff” was tagged as non-threats and I have to think the bad guys were a bit preoccupied. See photo below…

 

 

 

Toni told me the night match would include fire, water, and several flavors of light. I didn’t really understand what me meant till I attended the briefing.

Here’s the brief list of the night stages and what unique situation or challenge was included. I didn’t take the videos listed below, I found them with a quick search of YouTube. 

1) The Water Stage included shooting out a window through a rain storm. The never ending storm was created via a fountain that was rigged just above the outside of the window. I heard one story when I was entering scores about a shooter who extended his gun into the “storm” and couldn’t figure out why it was steaming. The things you just don’t think about, eh? This stage also required a flashlight.

2) The “Police” Stage included a car with flashing orange and blue lights (think strobe).

3) The Strip Club used regular lighting and, in the process, worked against eyes that had become adjusted to the dark.

4) The “HeadLights” stage was triggered by a motion sensor and included shooting 3 steel plates across the bumper of a deliver truck (to stop the truck) and shooting a light bulb through a small hole in a steel plate that emulated a motorcycle headlight. [Video here].

5) The Deck stage was originally designed to be shot with an oil lantern as the only light. Guess what? The muzzle flash kept blowing out the lantern. This required a change in the stage requirements to switch to flashlights and the first group re-shot the stage after the change. I thought: better to figure this out in a match rather than in your own back yard with someone shooting back at you.

6) The Camp Fire stage was shot with light from the (electric) campfire only. Targets were very low to the ground to simulate a dog pack zeroing in on your campsite.

7) The Glock Convenience Store stage was shot using a large Mag Light provided at the stage. The entrance to the store was obscured by dangling firehose and would have been a challenge to shoot in daylight.

8) The Car on Fire stage was the one that boggled my mind. Imagine sitting in the driver’s seat of a wrecked car with the engine on fire and having to defend yourself against a half a dozen freaks with guns. This stage simulated that experience. A flashlight was needed to pinpoint the furthest targets. [Video here].

Shooting started at 6:30pm and the last set of scores came in around midnight. It was bitter cold and a big contrast to the 70 degree afternoon. These two matches made for a very long, very interesting day.

Attending as a volunteer still raised my awareness about shooting a match like one of these and prompted some questions:

• How do you layer to stay warm enough at night but not have your clothing get in the way of your holster and concealment garment?
• What’s the minimum amount of gear you need in your range bag as you have to haul it from stage to stage?
• How to you insure you don’t lose gear in the dark?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read about the IDPA Triple Crown in several blog posts. This one says it best. I wanted to shoot but I’m making trade-offs financially after purchasing my first 1911 and all the accessories to set it up for competition. I’d been to The Range only once before to shoot my IDPA Classifier but I had briefly discussed working matches with Frank when I was there.

Even though I wasn’t willing to spend the money to complete, I wanted to see how outdoor stages differed from what I’d been shooting on an indoor range and I wanted to widen my network of shooting friends. So I called and volunteered to work the day and night match on Saturday. Frank said he’d put me to work and to come on up.

It seemed like a good idea at the time but when I pulled into the parking area at 9:30am Saturday morning I saw groups of people chatting and I thought, “What was I thinking? I don’t know a single soul here but Frank and he’s going to be very, very busy”. I took a deep breath and parked the car. I checked in at the only functioning building and told a stranger that I was here to help out. Again, I had second thoughts about this impulsive idea.

Then I found something I could do that really needed to be done: I networked the two laptops used for the match scoring program. I do tech support for a living and am happy to leave the job behind when I head to the range, but in this case it won me a new friend and the “Den Mother Stamp of Approval”. I was immediately recruited to enter scores and that nagging feeling that this was not my brightest idea disappeared as soon as her words were out.

We had some time to wait before the first scores would come in, so Frank offered to let me ride along while he took care of last minute setup issues. He showed me how to drive the Gator (think: topless golf cart) and he told me a bit about several of the stages as we fine tuned them. Then he got a call:  “Honey Bunny’s pants are falling off.” Say what???

Turns out  the match director’s nickname is “Honey Bunny” and they set up a special stage in honor of (or was it to bust on…) him. Turns out it’s his nickname but also what he calls everyone he meets. Of course I didn’t know this yet… Here’s the setup for the stage: You are in a convenience store after an IDPA Sanctioned Match when you hear “Hey Honey Bunny!!!”. You turn around and Honey Bunny gives you a hug. Just at that moment, bad guys enter the store shooting. Start Position: You with Honey Bunny hugging you with his revolver holstered on his belt. You draw the revolver to shoot the bad guys. In this case, the stage Honey Bunny is a 6 foot stuffed rabbit. And his pants kept falling off due to the weight of the gun.

I think someone mentioned suspenders. I asked Frank if he had some rope and told him I could fix this for him. And I did! Frank and I pulled up to the stage and got out of the Gator. There were 8-10 shooters looking at us and Frank looks at me and says to go ahead and fix the rabbit. No pressure here, eh? Remember I don’t know any of these people, yet, and I’d like to make some new friends.

I used a bowline on a front belt loop, took the rope behind the rabbit’s head and tied off to the front belt loop on the other side of his zipper. One of the guys suggested I tie to the back belt loops too. I was already on it. We had plenty of rope so I secured the 2nd front belt loop, went over the shoulder and diagonal across the rabbit’s back to ensure the rope wouldn’t slip off his shoulder. I passed the rope in front of the rabbit’s neck to get opposing tension for the last belt loop in the back and muttered under my breath, “You’d never do this with a person” and one of the shooters asked me if I taught bondage classes. That got a good laugh! One shooter gave me a fist pump and that really meant a lot to me. And now Frank has a new story to tell about the bondage bunny.

I managed to sneak in a few photos of the most intriguing day stage (think: high!) but spent most of the match entering scores. Once the day match was complete, I offered to help do the final setup for the night match and Toni put me to work. That’s when I heard the full disclosure about the Honey Bunny moniker.

Toni was very patient with my numerous questions while I helped set up targets and props for the night stages. He chatted with me about flashlights, the best way to shoot the stages we set up and how these matches were similar to or different from other matches. I helped clean up used targets from previous matches and tried my best to be useful.

Frank fed the staff and range safety officers Brunswick stew made by a local church that was excellent. The night match started around 6:30pm. The night stages vastly exceeded what I thought was possible and I’ll cover that in a future post. The last scores came in around midnight and I headed home by 12:15am. Very tired but very happy.

I didn’t meet many shooters, but I did meet people that helped me to get a better understanding of how competitions work and more important, made me feel welcome. I definitely see more volunteering in my future.

For more on the stages in the match, keep reading.